


Here we come a'wand'ring, so fair to be seen.

by werepope (quiteparadise)



Series: 2014 Advent Calendar for a Filthy-Minded Athiest [9]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Drunkenness, Implied Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, M/M, Theft of property under 500, caroling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 19:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2744528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiteparadise/pseuds/werepope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam is a caroler.  Zayn is drunk.  Louis is a menace.</p><p> </p><p>Advent calendar challenge: Carolers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here we come a'wand'ring, so fair to be seen.

Caroling is about as fun as Liam expected it to be. His throat hurts, his lungs feel sore from the cold, and they've only collected about a hundred and twenty quid in three hours. On the plus side there are at least two phone numbers in the hat along with the cash, but Liam's pretty sure they're both for Harry. Shame, that. The last one was cute. Like Lupita Nyong'o.

Okay, maybe not _that_ cute.

Even if it had been Lupita herself, Harry wouldn't be giving her a ring. Not in the way she'd have hoped for. Harry is two percent straight at the very most. Liam thinks that's why Harry gets flirted with by girls as often as he does, like they're drawn unconsciously to his disinterest. Harry thinks Liam is a misogynist who needs to be more aware of his sexism. Maybe that's why Harry gets girls' numbers all the time.

They finish "Boar's Head Carol" and a middle-aged couple drops a five before wandering away. Harry makes a production of taking off his top hat and giving them a bow. Because of course Harry insisted that they do this in full get-up. If they'd just donated the money they had to spend renting the costumes they'd be doubling their collection so far, but Harry was sure they'd make more money like this.

"Oh Here We Come A-wassailing," Niall says, and everyone turns the page dutifully. Niall taps his foot to give them the time and they start.

They're only just sending the first happy New Year when they're all but drowned out by a loud yell. A loud, approaching yell, and then they're invaded by a rather small, very drunk young man who is either a big fan of traditional Christmas songs or really, really hates them. It's hard to tell, with the song fracturing all around.

"Charlie Dickens," he cries, grabbing hold of the trailing end of Harry's red scarf and shaking it. "It's true, Zayn, it's true, he really is a vampire!"

Liam doesn't get it, nor does Harry by the look on his face, but Zayn does. At least, Liam assumes that the boy sauntering up is Zayn. He's laughing a whole lot to be just a random bystander. His laughter fades out to a smile by the time he gets to them. He has the overly-careful walk of the incredibly drunk. He has the face of the incredibly beautiful. As in, _wow, you are not of this earth_ beautiful. As in, hands down the most attractive person that Liam has ever had the pleasure/pain of gazing upon.

Liam goggles stupidly at him.

Zayn's smile goes lop-sided and Liam girds his loins. He always assumed that was just a figure of speech but no. No it is not. It is in fact an instinctive panic response to being given a flirtatious smile by the illegitimate son of some ancient and forgotten sun god. Who knew?

"I like your hat," he says, swaying forward at the hip and touching the brim of Liam's felt top hat. Liam flushes all over.

"Thanks."

Zayn takes an inadvertent step toward him when he loses his balance and stumbles, catching himself on Liam's sleeve. He giggles. He actually giggles. Liam feels a shiver deep in his chest that is either his lungs stuttering or his heart seizing. It hurts wonderfully.

He has no defenses at all against Zayn reaching up and plucking the hat off of his head, only the sense to reach up and try to make sure his hair hasn't gone absolutely frightful underneath it. He forgets to care, though, when Zayn drops the hat onto his own head, tips it at a jaunty angle, and smiles up at him slyly.

"Look good on me?" he asks.

If he opens his mouth now he's going to do something really ludicrously stupid like ad-lib a sonnet or propose marriage, so Liam just nods. Zayn must interpret his earnestness, though, because he leans in to press a kiss against Liam's cheek, so very near the corner of his mouth it can't be anything but missed opportunity.

Zayn's friend crashes out of the little bundle of carolers with the same violence that he'd crashed into them, howling with laughter and being chased by Harry, who is trying to hit him with his twisted up scarf. Zayn gets grabbed by the arm and dragged away, whisked back into the night to go turn other people's chest cavities into disaster areas.

He turns in his friend's grip to wave and Liam waves back. Harry shakes his fist and yells at them to mind their goddamn manners.

"Li, mate, your hat," Niall says, pointing up at Liam's bare head, his messy hair.

The costume shop charges him sixty pounds for the loss, but Liam's not too fussed. It seems a decent enough price for a close encounter with a heavenly body. And besides that, Harry got four phone numbers that night, including that of Zayn's friend. Liam couldn't ask for a better excuse for a more sober meet-up with Zayn than a stolen, sixty quid hat.

**Author's Note:**

> Charles Dickens' vampirism is lifted joyfully from Appendix A of "The Dead Authors Podcast." If you like literature, Christmas, and/or improv comedy, you should listen to it.


End file.
